I’m excited about the festival coming to DC, performances are scheduled from June 8 – July 1, 2012 at the following venues:
Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D Street NW, Washington. D.C. Nanny J. Lee Memorial, 1108 Jefferson Street, Alexandria, Va. Busboys and Poets Hyattsville, 5331 Baltimore Avenue, Hyattsville, MD Joe’s Movement Emporium, 3309 Bunker Hill Rd, Mount Rainer, MD Howard University Ira Aldridge Theatre Howard University Blackburn Theatre Silver Spring Cultural Arts Center, 7995 Georgia Ave, SilverSpring, MD Sitar Arts Center, 1700 Kalorama Road NW, D.C. Navy Memorial, 701 Pennsylvania Ave NW, D.C.Go to the website and see what tickles your fancy. Below are three I plan to see:
That Color Blind Kind of Love
That Color Blind Kind of Love
By Rebekah L. Pierce
It started in 1855 on a plantation in Virginia when 15-year-old Twyla was a slave owned by Sampson’s tobacco family. When Sampson’s mother learns of their illicit love affair and the impending birth of their love child, Twyla is sold to the highest bidder. Ninety years later (1935), Twyla and Sampson are reborn and find each other again, but the Racial Integrity Act of 1924 forbids miscegenation. They are both jailed and forced to divorce. It’s the present and the kindred spirits have found one another again for a third time. Will society and their families finally allow them to love one another freely?
Thursday, June 28 @7 p.m. Friday, June 29 @7 p.m. Woolly Mammoth Theatre 641 D Street NWWashington, 20001
Sphere: The Thelonious Monk Story
by Max Garner
Sphere: The Thelonious Monk Story by Max Garner – directed by Rosiland Cauthen – appears in the DC Black Theatre Festival following a successful three-week run at Arena Players (the oldest continuously operating black theater in the U.S. ) in March, and a workshop production at the LOFT in 2011.
Sphere is a unique exploration of racial politics, mental illness, and the nature of genius – in a fascinating portrait of one of America’s greatest artistic figures. The title character, Thelonious Sphere Monk, engages in an abstract and circular conversation with his psychiatrist as they both try to make sense of his life and music.
Saturday, June 30, 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday, July 1@ 3 p.m. Woolly Mammoth Theatre641 D Street NW
Washington, 20001
Nobody Walks Like My Daddy: A jazz song in syncopated counterpoint
by E.L. James
Nobody Walks Like My Daddy is the story of four generations of fathers and sons in an African American family and the bonds and strength they derive from paternal love and the admiration of sons. One of the men in particular has become a father once again at age 52 after siring his first son three decades earlier. Being a dad again in the middle years brings with its own unique set of challenges Nobody Walks Like My Daddy: A jazz song in syncopated counterpoint.
Wednesday, June 27, 8:30pm Thursday, June 28, 8:30pm Friday, June 29, 8:30pm Woolly Mammoth Theatre 641 D Street NWWashington, 20001
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